Key Issue - Scientometrics, bibliometrics, altmetrics: some introductory advice for the lost and bemused

Key Issue Scientometrics, bibliometrics, altmetrics: some introductory advice for the lost and bemusedMetrics and their use and mis-use are very live issues for our communities.January 2013 sees the launch of the submissions system for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, the new system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions (HEIs).Bibliometric data such as citations will be used by the REF panels as part of their deliberation.While publications are still a key part of that analysis, panels are explicitly forbidden to consider the impact factor of the journal where those publications appear, when assessing the article's impact or importance: 'No sub-panel will make any use of journal impact factors, rankings, lists or the perceived standing of publishers in assessing the quality of research outputs'.1Alongside that, we see the rise of 'altmetrics' and 'scientometrics' -new ways of looking at the usefulness and impact of research outputs that take into account references outside of the journal article, including social media and news stories.The web makes these new metrics possible, and technology brings assessing impact and reach closer to real time.Librarians, those working in research offices and publishers are no strangers to the use of metrics: for making journal collection decisions; showing return on investment of journal collections or funding of research; and assessing research outputs and impact institution.Often, however, we lack the time and resources to understand all the metrics available, let alone to gather the data and analyse it effectively to aid reporting and decision-making.Every day seems to bring a new perspective on the 'best' way to assess impact, excellence and usage.There are many metrics, which all have their advantages, and their limitations.Where to begin?This article provides a brief introduction to some of the most commonly talked-about metrics.It also highlights some of the tools available to gather and analyse metrics.This is by no means a comprehensive survey of the metrics or services available. Some article-level metrics CitationsCitation is a key metric to understand, as many other metrics derive from citations.A citation is a reference to a published work or an individual, in the references of a published work.This is done to acknowledge the source of information, or to substantiate a statement.In this context, we are specifically referring to the citation of a journal article included in the references of another journal article.For journal articles, these are collated by a number of services, including Thomson Reuters' Web of Science, Elsevier's Scopus and Google Scholar. DownloadsThe number of times an article has been downloaded from a publisher's website or other source, such as an aggregator's database, or a publicly accessible repository like PubMed Central.A download can be viewing the abstract, the full-text HTML file or the PDF of an article.To ensure that online usage statistics are recorded and reported in a consistent way across the information industry, an international initiative, COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic Resources) sets standards and provides a Code of Practice for information providers.